A. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to children""s toys and games. More particularly the present invention relates to those games that are enhanced versions of the game of hide and seek. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to such games that utilize an object, such as a doll, stuffed animal, toy or other such object, that is hidden and which communicates its relative position to the person seeking the toy or object.
B. Background
The game of hide and seek has likely been around for a very long time. In fact, most people have played the game of hide and seek, either when they were a child or as an adult in conjunction with children. The standard game of hide and seek requires two or more participants with one participant being the seeker and the other participant(s) hiding so the seeker cannot easily find them. Typically, the seeker will hide his or her eyes to give the other participants a chance to hide. Once the allotted time has gone by for the others to hide, the seeker will begin seeking out the other participants. When the seeker is able to find and touch another participant, that participant becomes the next seeker and the game is repeated. There are numerous variations of the standard game where rules are made to increase or decrease the difficultly of play. One such variation on the standard hide and seek game is where one person (often a parent or older sibling) hides an object, such as a doll, stuffed animal or toy, so that another person (i.e., a child) can try to find the object. Typically, the person who hid the object will watch the person seeking the object and give clues as to the location of the hidden object, usually in reference relative to the seeker""s position and often in the vague form of whether the seeker is cold, warm or hot. Based on the clues, the seeking participant uses his or her logic skills to determine the object""s location.
One limitation of the standard game of hide and seek is that the game requires at least two persons (whether both are children or one is a parent or other adult) to participate, one as the seeker and one who hides. If only two participants are playing the standard hide and seek game, the one hiding is unable to give any clues as to his or her position without the sound of the clues, as opposed to the words themselves, giving away the hider""s location. In fact, with only two people playing hide and seek, the modified game (i.e., where an object is hidden and clues are given) is usually the game of choice for younger children due to their inability to find a well-hidden hider. Naturally, without a second person to do the hiding or seeking, either the standard or modified game of hide and seek cannot be played. With young children at home, often it is the parent who plays as the other participant. Even well meaning parents, however, are generally limited on the amount of time and patience they have available for playing such a game. Usually, the parent will tire of the game before the child does.
For traditional hide and seek games, the number of players to make the game fun generally depends on the size of area where the game is played and the number of places to hide. If the area is small with not too many places to hide, the game is generally more fun with fewer players. Otherwise, the game is not very much fun because it is too easy to find the hidden participants. In contrast, if the playing area is large with many places to hide, the game is generally much more fun with more participants. This is particularly true for a game being played in a large area with only a young seeker and a single hidden child, which would be too difficult to be fun.
A number of modern variations of the game of hide and seek have been developed and/or patented to incorporate modern electronic technology into devices to be used to play the game. One such game is xe2x80x9cHide ""n Sneakxe2x80x9d that utilizes a seeker unit and one or more xe2x80x9chiderxe2x80x9d units that are worn by the person seeking and the person hiding, respectively. When the seeker comes within a preset distance of the hider, the seeker unit picks up a signal transmitted by the hider unit to let the seeker know he or she is close to a person hiding. As the seeker gets closer to the hidden person, the seeker unit uses a variety of lights and/or sounds to indicate the relative closeness to the person hiding. As such, the game basically replaces visual seeking with sonar-type seeking. Another game is called xe2x80x9cHide ""n Squeakxe2x80x9d by Milton Bradley. In this game, an object such as a kitten or puppy with a transmitter inside is hidden. The object transmits a xe2x80x9ccutexe2x80x9d sound every few seconds for the child to follow. Skill level is adjusted by setting how often the object transmits the sound. Other than listening for the sound of the object, there is no other interaction between the seeker and the object. Another available game utilizes the Freddie Fish(copyright) character in a toy format, treasures for hiding and a tracking device. The character toy emits different phrases to guide the seekers to the hidden treasures. Other than listening to the phrases emitted by the toy, no other interaction takes place between the child and the toy. One common aspect of the above-mentioned games is that none of them provide much of an opportunity for the seeker to use and develop his or her logic skills. The interaction between the seeker and the hidden objects is generally very minimal and the seeker merely has to follow the sound of the devices to determine where they are located.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,575 to Perry discloses a hide and seek game that utilizes a radio receiver for the seeker and radio transmitters for those who are hiding. Each transmitter emits a radio signal that is picked-up by the receiver, which measures the field strength of the cumulative signal field generated by the transmitters. The receivers and transmitters can be configured in the form of a wrist watch sized device to be worn on the players"" person. The transmitters also include a feature to allow them to be temporarily turned off. This game, like the traditional game of hide and seek, requires two or more participants. In addition, the game devices appear to be less suitable for very young children due to the need to understand the effect of multiple radio signals. A similar type of game is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,942,969 to Wicks. This patent describes a treasure hunt type of game that utilizes pagers and a wireless paging system. The participants decipher clues to determine which location they need to go to next. Once there, they signal the base pager station that they are there and then they receive the next clue. This game requires interaction with a wireless paging system and is not configured for young children.
While the foregoing describes certain hide and seek and related games that are available or have been previously patented, none of the games provide a hide and seek game that can be played by a single participant (once the object is hidden) and which interacts with the participant. The ability to provide a participant, particularly young children, with a hide and seek game that both entertains and helps develop the participant""s thinking abilities would be beneficial to most parents. As is well known, a child playing by his or herself or even with other children often becomes bored and wants a parent to interact in a game with the child or children. The level of interaction desired by the child or children often is not possible due to work or other activities engaged in by the parent. Although the parent wants to keep the child or children busy, he or she desires to have something that interacts with the child and makes the child use and further develop thinking skills. What is needed, therefore, is a hide and seek game and interactive apparatus for use with the game that can be played by one or more young children and which provides a level of interaction with the child or children that encourages the child to utilize his or her deductive reasoning skills.
The enhance hide and seek game and method of playing the game of the present invention provides the benefits and solves the problems identified above. That is to say, the present invention discloses a new and useful hide and seek game and method that can be played by one or more participants, such as young children, and which interacts with the participants playing the game to challenge them to utilize their deductive reasoning skills to find a hidden object. The present invention is easy to play and is suitable for use with a variety of commonly available objects as,the object to be hidden and utilizes commonly available technology. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is set forth in the discussion below. However, it should be understood that the principles set forth below with regard to the present invention are equally adaptable to other configurations.
In its preferred configuration, the enhanced hide and seek game of the present invention utilizes an object to be hidden and a seeker unit to be worn or held by the participant seeking the hidden object. The object to be hidden has a transmitter unit either built into the object, attached to the object or otherwise associated with the object. In the preferred embodiment of playing the game the transmitter unit associated with the object is activated and the object is hidden so the game participant will have to find it. The seeker unit is activated and communicates an initialization message (such as laughing, steps running away or the like) to the game participant. The microprocessor in the seeker unit then determines a first distance between the participant and the object based on the first position of the participant. After the participant moves, he or she can initiate a position request by speaking into the seeker unit or pushing a button, flipping a switch or otherwise activating a device on the seeker unit to cause it to determine a second distance, based on the participant""s second position, between the seeker unit and the transmitter unit. The microprocessor in the seeker unit compares the second distance to the first distance to determine a relative change in distance and whether the second distance is greater or less than the first distance. Based on that determination, the seeker unit communicates a game message to the game participant regarding the change in distance (i.e., whether he or she is getting closer or further away from the object). The participant then moves again and repeats the procedure for the next position he or she desires to check until the object is found. When the participant gets very close to the object, the seeker unit can communicate an end message (such as xe2x80x9cyou""ve found mexe2x80x9d or the like) to indicate that the participant has found the object.
In the preferred embodiment of the game of the present invention, the game comprises an object capable of being hidden, a transmitter unit associated with the object and a seeker unit associated with the game participant. The transmitter unit is configured to transmit a signal generally outward from the object such that it can be received by the receiver in the seeker unit. The seeker unit has a microprocessor suitable for determining a relative first distance between the seeker unit (the participant) and the object based on the signal strength of the signal from the transmitter. The microprocessor in the seeker unit also determines the relative second distance between the seeker unit and the object and the relative change in distance between the first distance and the second distance to determine if the participant is generally moving closer to the object or further away from it. The seeker unit also has a speaker for transmitting one or more messages to the game participant, such as an initialization message at the beginning of the game, various game messages during the game to encourage or help the participant find the object and an end message at the end of the game for when the participant finds or is very near the object. In the preferred embodiment, the seeker unit has a voice activated sensor to initiate the distance determination and/or messages. Alternatively, a push button, switch or similar device can be used to activate this procedure.
Accordingly, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a hide and seek game and apparatus for use therewith having the features generally described above and more specifically described below in the detailed description of the preferred embodiments. It is also an important objective of the present invention to provide a hide and seek game and apparatus that utilizes a doll, toy or other object that can be hidden and then communicates with the seeking child. Yet another important object of the present invention is to provide a method of playing a hide and seek game that can be easily played by one or more participants as the seeker or seekers and which includes an object that interacts with the seeker or seekers to challenge them to find the hidden object. Another object of the present invention is to provide an enhanced hide and seek game and apparatuses that can determine the seeker""s relative position to a hidden object and provide clues as to the location of the object. The above and other objectives of the present invention will be explained in greater detail by reference to the attached figures and the description of the preferred embodiment which follows.